Water's Reflection Free! x Reader
by Shining Lauren
Summary: She was bad, but she had to be. She was trouble, but she chose to be. She was honest, but nobody believed her. [Name] [Last Name], the girl who vandalized Iwatobi's Pool, earning her a spot in the swim club. Of course she didn't wanna be in it, and they weren't keen on it either. But when they learn her history with Samezuka, they start to realize that she really isn't trouble.
1. Prologue

"…Would [Name] [Last Name] please report to the office," The intercom buzzed overhead, catching a certain [hair color] haired girl's attention, "[Name] to the office immediately."

 _"Wonder what she's in for this time."_

 _"Probably got caught smoking on school property."_

 _"Probably wasn't a cigarette this time."_

[Name] stood up from her seat, her [eye color] eyes narrowed as she grabbed her bag, sliding it over her shoulder with ease. Her boots tapped against the ground as she walked out of the library, and she figured her study hall was over. Some students looked at her, others gossiped about her.

She ignored all of them, walking to the office slowly, her gaze clouded and mysterious. [Name] opened the door, her dark red lips pursed as she saw the looks from the ladies in the office. Clearly she hadn't won an award for perfect attendance- And clearly she had been caught.

"You can go into the Principal's Office, Ms. [Last Name]." The secretary said curtly, her glare piercing into the third year student.

She only nodded at the woman, not bothering to make a response before walking the familiar route to the Principal's. As she stepped into his office, he looked up from his desk, shutting the folders in front of him.

"Take a seat, [Last Name]." He instructed his voice short and anger in his tone. He got up and walked over to the door, shutting it as [Name] sat down, crossing her legs casually. "I hope you have a good explanation about what happened to Iwatobi's pool." He said, crossing his arms at the student.

"What happened to it?" She asked, putting a hand on her chin as she made no move to flinch under the principal's gaze.

"You tell me." He said, clearly not in the mood to deal with Ms. [Last Name]'s antics. "This was found near the pool at 7:58 AM this morning, along with some old spray paint cans and graffiti." He pulled out a shiny black smartphone with a silver pattern on the back, showing a [First Initial] across it.

"I suppose it's yours." He said, and the girl nodded, clearly she hadn't been expecting that. "I'd like to ask you some questions regarding what happened last night, and I want you to answer instead of countering me with more questions." He instructed, earning a breathy laugh from the girl who seemed like she was pretty confident about the whole thing in general.

"Go ahead." She said, flicking her eyes to the phone, her dark makeup showing no signs of fading away.

"Glad to see you're as confident as ever." The principal mumbled, handing the phone back to her. "Do you know why your phone was there?"

"Do you know who found my phone?" She asked, taking it from him quickly, typing into it.

"Please refrain from using evidence to text your friends, especially while we're in the middle of discussing." He snapped, "Also, I said to not answer in questions. This is no time for your games."

"Ahem," She said, sliding her phone into the side of her tall boot, "I'm not playing any games. But I do know why my phone was there." She stated flatly, her eyes cast to the side, "I lost it."

"How did you lose it?"

"I dropped it." She stated, looking at her black painted nails.

"How did you drop it?" He asked, annoyed. He clearly wanted a straightforward answer, and she clearly wanted to make sure he didn't get one.

"Probably fell out of my pocket." She said boredly, yawning loudly to get her point across.

"Alright," The principal said, his brown eyes glaring at her, "What were you doing at the pool that caused your phone to get lost?"

"What if someone stole my phone that I had dropped, stealing it and using it to make me look bad on the scene?" She countered, causing the principal to give an exasperated laugh.

"Fine, if you won't admit it, I'll show you some security footage." He walked over to his computer, glancing at her still confident expression. " **Before** it got cut off."

Her face went blank for a moment, but she quickly regained herself as she played with a strand of [hair color] hair.

 _"This camera off yet?"_

Her eyes widened as she noticed her voice playing from the computer, which was soon turned in her direction to reveal a clear image of her on the screen, a can of orange spray paint in one hand.

 _"Yeah!"_

A voice called, she recognized it immediately, but the person never appeared on the screen. About 10 seconds later the video cut off, and she gulped.

She was caught.

"So, are you going to deny that wasn't you on the screen?" The principal said smugly, causing [Name] to look at her boots as if she was really interested in them. "We also have your phone found on school property, along with images of the vandalism- We can always compare handwriting, and I hope you know."

"Okay, so, that _was_ me on the screen, yeah…" She trailed off, fumbling for words, "But-"

"But nothing." He said, cutting her off. "Unless you would like to tell us who that was, along with more of your 'friends' I presume." He stared at her for a moment, but she made no move to speak as she stared at the ground. "I guess not then." He sighed, folding his arms over his chest. "You're going to formally apologize to the swim team, _and_ are to clean up the vandalism. You don't need to be expelled; it'll only get you into more trouble."

She nodded, standing up, but he quickly stopped her.

"I want you to apologize right now." He said, grabbing the speaker and pressing the button, "All Swim Club members, please report to the office. Please report immediately." He announced as [Name] sat back down in the chair, her lips formed into a thin line.

"Also, please don't wear such dark makeup."

"It's not like your dress code says I can't. I can wear any shoes as long as they're not opened toed, I can wear any tie I want as long as it isn't inappropriate and I can wear any amount of makeup as long as it doesn't cover my face or has anything vulgar or inappropriate on it." She recited monotonously, clearly uninterested in his petty attempts to get her to change her look.

"Um, Mr. Iwamoto, what did you need us here for?"

The girl looked in the direction of the door where a tall olive-haired male stood, 4 other students behind him. [Name] could tell that they didn't know about what had happened, and suddenly she felt bad about it.

It's not like she really had any revenge to get on the Swim Club- In fact, she'd done it because of something one of her 'friends' had said. She just showed up to smoke a cigarette, and really, since she was 18 already- She wouldn't have been in too much trouble.

But she wouldn't just let someone else take the fall, even if she was in the clear.

Nobody likes a tattle tale.

"Mr. Tachibana, other Swim Club members, I assume you haven't seen what happened to your pool." The Principal started, his dark brown eyes watching the expressions of the members change to confusion- One was staring at the girl who'd made no move to speak, his blue eyes looked upset already.

"What happened to it?" The ravenette asked, now interested in what was happening as he spoke a sharp tone.

"Why don't I let Ms. [Last Name] explain."

She glanced up, and all eyes were on her, all of them filled with confusion- not counting the Principal's of course.

"Your pool was vandalized." She stated bluntly, going back to staring at the ground, clearly not too happy about being accused of such thing. She was honest about being there, but she wasn't the one who vandalized it.

"By who?" The principal questioned her, but was soon cut off by the red haired girl.

"What?! How did this happen?!" She said loudly, her face filled with anger. "Was it her?! I knew she looked like trouble-"

"Ms. Matsuoka, I understand that this is upsetting, but she knows her actions were wrong." The principal said, watching as she puffed out her cheeks angrily. "I'd also like for her to give you a formal apology, so please continue."

"Sorry about what happened to your pool-"

"Explain what happened to the pool, we haven't got all day." The Principal said, annoyed at the [hair color] haired girl who was now looking directly at the upset swimmers, all were staring at her, one was staring at the wall as if in a trance.

"I'm so sorry that your pool was vandalized, I will most certainly clean up the spray paint- Wait." She stopped, looking at the principal, "What about the dye?"

"There's dye in our pool?!" The short blonde screeched, catching the principal's attention.

"Mr. Hazuki, please, inside voices. I will make sure [Name] pays for the cleaning which will occur this weekend." He looked at you, "You will pay by helping this club."

"What?!" Said the swim club, excluding a certain ravenette along with [Name].

"I'm not going to seriously be in their club, am I? I don't even really like to swim!" The girl said, standing up, her boots giving her a good extra 3 inches. She stood at a 5'9" height, a little shorter than the Principal. "You can't possibly make me do this!"

"[Name], if you'd rather we get you put in jail for vandalizing school property than you **will** do this." He turned back to the swim club who were all staring at the raging girl, "I assure you she will clean up your pool by the end of this week, and will be a helper to your swim club. If she doesn't cooperate, please do not hesitate to tell me."

"Mr. Iwamoto, are you sure it's necessary for her to be a part of our swim club?" The blue eyed male asked, his tone laced in bitterness as he spoke of the fuming girl.

"Mr. Nanase, I assure you she won't be considered a part of your club unless you want her to be. Think of her as a worker, ready to aid you with anything you may need for swimming." He looked over at [Name], "Or maybe a girl who needs to clean up your pool."

The bells rang, interrupting anyone from saying anything.

"If you have any more questions, please tell me, you may take your leave-"

The girl had already shoved past the swim club members, her [hair color] bangs covering her eyes, giving her a dark aura as she stormed through the halls, straight to the parking lot, hopping into a silver Dodge Challenger, pulling the phone out of her boot with rage and dialing a number quickly.

 _"The number you have called has been disconnected."_


	2. Chapter 1

p class="MsoNormal""Haru, you can't swim in the pool! It's full of green dye, it'll ruin your swimsuit!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You stared at the swim club from the roof, your eyes lazily scanning the vandalism. It was an image of the mascot, just with X's over the eyes. You really hadn't paid much attention to what she was doing, in fact you just tossed the cans of paint to her./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It was you and 4 of your… Friends, per se./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You should've been down there, cleaning, but you'd do that once they left the pool. You didn't want to be around people who were mad at you, who were your new club members and mostly because you didn't like them and they didn't like you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You gripped your phone in your hand, knowing full well that it was blowing up with texts from your parents. They were currently in America, and supposing you had gotten in trouble for something that could've gotten you in jail wasn't exactly all that good,/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You grabbed your backpack, sliding the smart phone into your boot, biting your dark red lip./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You took a glance at the swim club, seeing them talk for a moment before walking into the room. Now would be a good time to use the supplies the principal made the janitor give you, all you had to do was make sure you didn't ruin your uniform- or more importantly your boots./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You had gotten the bucket with cleaning supplies and boredly walked onto the site of the swimming pool- seeing the club talking inside, and walked over to the far side, getting a better look at the large orange bird graffiti./p  
p class="MsoNormal""If only they hadn't painted the red x's, it might actually be a cool mural." You mumbled, taking off your blazer and setting it to the side, quickly doing the same with your tie. Glancing at the bucket of cleaning supplies, you grabbed one of the steel wool pads and a bottle of spray bleach./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Hoping you wouldn't get anything on your leather boots, you began to clean off the area, scrubbing a little bit before growing more frustrated as it barely came off./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You sat down with a sigh of frustration, staring at the little progress you had made. The only big difference was that the bird had no eyes, considering you greatly disliked the x's on there./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Standing up, you glared at the image, it was making you more irritated by the second./p  
p class="MsoNormal"If only you had stayed at home that day, you wouldn't be in the water lovers club with a bunch of annoyed guys- Well, 4 annoyed guys and a ticked off redhead who was indeed female./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'm Nagisa!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"You did a 180 and blinked at the blonde male in front of you, and overall you were a little surprised he wasn't here to chew emyou/em out for something you didn't do./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Can I ask you a question?" He said as you stared blankly at him./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You just did." You said, crossing your arms over your chest boredly./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well, I'll ask you another one then!" He said, puffing out his cheeks. "Why did you do this to our pool?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I didn't do anything to your pool," You said, pursing your dark lips. "But I'll tell you a little why it was done. Someone had a grudge against the tall one- Tachibana, I think." You said, tapping your fingernails against your thigh./p  
p class="MsoNormal"His expression looked confused for a moment, and he shook his head./p  
p class="MsoNormal""No," He said, disbelief in his tone. "Nobody has a grudge against Mako-chan!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You then shrugged, picking up the bucket and dropping the used materials into it./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You asked, Blondie." You picked up your blazer and threw it over your shoulder along with your tie, your black boots tapping against the cement as you left the swimming pool./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You'd be back when you were positive all the swimmer's had gone./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"~ ~ ~/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"[Name], I cannot believe you did such a thing!" /em Your mother shouted into the phone as you sat on your bed, putting your head on your dark purple pillow./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Mom, I'm sorry." You said quietly into the phone. "Some of my friends and I were being stupid, and I-"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"Why can't you be more like your brother?"/em She sighed into the phone, em"Always you were just being stupid, goofing around, we didn't realize- Why can't you accept responsibility?! You always admit to one little thing, but never the whole thing. Take responsibility for your actions, for once in your life!"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You press the speaker button and drop the phone onto the sheets, rubbing your temple as she continued to speak./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"You're lucky he hasn't kicked you out of Iwatobi High, and let alone the fact you have been expelled once. As soon as you left Samezuka you've turned into the worst kid I have ever seen!" /emShe snapped into the phone, her voice laced in anger. em"My child has turned into a troublemaker, and she won't even accept responsibility. I'd better only hear good things about you from now on, seeing as you've been told to join the swim club."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal""You won't be hearing anything, Mom." You snapped into the phone, holding it up to your ear and clicking the speaker off. "Maybe if you stopped comparing me to- And she hung up." You huffed, setting the phone on your sheets./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You walked into your bathroom, and turned on the hot water before undressing for a bath. You tossed your clothes into a heap on the tiles before stepping into the tub, mumbling to yourself as you let the hot water overtake you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Maybe I could be an ideal kid if stronghe /strongwasn't always shadowing over me."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strong3suprd/sup P.O.V./strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nagisa went to talk to her, and then she left apparently." Rei stated to the swim club, sitting down against the swim room. "Although I thought she had to stay for club activities-"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Why would we want her to stay anyways?" Haru said, staring at the green pool, bitterly. "As long as she gets that graffiti off the pool by Friday, she can come and go as she pleases."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""…She's not very nice." Nagisa mumbled, "But she didn't seem to like Mako-chan all that much."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"The tall olive haired male jumped at this, his green eyes wide./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I've only said one thing to her, I think, and it was like, 'Good morning.'" He said, confused. "Nagisa, what makes you say that?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nagisa paused and stood up, beginning to pace./p  
p class="MsoNormal""She said that's why she vandalized the pool, she had a grudge on Mako-chan!" He paused, "Actually she said she didn't vandalize the pool. She said her friend had a grudge on Mako…" He crossed his arms, "But she's lying, I bet!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"All of the swim club members turned to look at Makoto, who seemed confused overall, a little sweat rolling on his face./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I swear I don't know what I did, I mean, we have the same classes, but it's not like she showed up to any of them!" Makoto rambled, still confused as to what had happened with [Name]./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It did seem puzzling for the swim club members, considering that Makoto wasn't the kind of guy to be like that- In fact, the only girl he recalled talking to, other than Gou, was a girl he didn't even recognize from Iwatobi./p  
p class="MsoNormal"strongem-Prior to the Vandalism-/em/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"Sup." /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"emMakoto blinked at the girl who had appeared on the rooftop from the staircase, her black and red hair in a tight ponytail. Her lips were a maroon shade, and her sharp purple eyes were intimidating- As well as her outfit. It was clear she didn't care about school dress code./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"Hello." He said, slight nervousness in his voice. "Are you a second year?" He asked, gulping as she let out a loud laugh./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"I'm by all means a third year." She said, amusement in her tone. "I came to talk to you, Tachibana-san. You're pretty strong, right?" She shook her head, "Of course you are. You're muscles are practically busting through your shirt. I'm Em, to you at least." She pulled a piece of paper out of her boot, tossing it to the male, who caught it with ease./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"What's this?"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"Well, big guy, it's an invitation." Her tone was serious as she turned to leave. "You've got the muscles to be in our gang, that's for sure, I want you to be my boyfriend, and I want you to join the gang." Her purple eyes gleamed as he stood up, holding 4 inches over her./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"I'm sorry, but no, I won't join your gang." He said, dropping the paper on the ground./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em"Big guy, now is not the time to be the good guy." Her tone was filled with anger as she locked eyes with him. "You had your chance."/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"emAnd with that, she picked up the paper and walked down the steps, leaving him on the rooftop alone again./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strongem-End of Flashback-/em/strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"The guys were all sure she was lying, because they had nothing but proof against [Name], so how would they know if she was truthful or not? They strongare/strong each entitled to their own opinions, you can't really stop them from doing that./p 


	3. Chapter 2

p class="MsoNormal""If it isn't Trouble."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You stopped in your walking, to glance at the significantly shorter girl who seemed to look intimidated by your glare. You noticed it was just you two, seeing as none of the actual swimmers had shown up. Overall in the past week you've been here, you managed to clean the graffiti- ending up ruined your left boot- But you had managed to get everything cleaned up without interacting all that much with the swim club./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But then there was now, where you had to actually deal with them. Hopefully they have had time to cool down, because people who were constantly angry never gave you much of a break, or anyone for that fact./p  
p class="MsoNormal""What's up?" You said casually, ignoring the annoyed look on her face./p  
p class="MsoNormal""What's up?! You can't just be all casual and ask that!" She huffed crossing her arms, "Either way you're here to help so I suppose that's fine. I'm Gou Matsuoka, but call me Kou." She took a moment to glance at the pool, "Luckily you actually cleaned up the pool- I swear I haven't seen Haru so mad before."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You tried to remember who Haru was… And… Nope, you had forgotten everyone's names. Except the chick in front of you, Kou not Gou or you might get cussed out by the redhead./p  
p class="MsoNormal"It wasn't surprising where the term, 'Redheads have a bad temper' comes from./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hey Gou!" You blinked as the short blonde boy came in, stopping as he noticed you casually standing in front of her. "I see the pool's all better again," He sent you a grin, "Guess this means you're officially apart of the team."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""No thanks, the second this punishment is over, I'm joining the at-home team." You said, sticking your hands in the pockets of your blazer./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He didn't seem very happy with your answer, huffing before going to speak with Gou./p  
p class="MsoNormal"What did they even need your help for? Making sure the locker room was clean? As if./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nagisa, why did you leave me to carry all the water bottles?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"On instinct, a tall blunette stumbled in, holding tons of water bottles in his hands. He dropped a couple before sighing loudly and setting the armful on the concrete./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Rei-chan, I know who can help with that next time! [Last Name]-san can!" Nagisa (You think that was his name at least) said, causing you to jump./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You bit back your tongue and grabbed the stray water bottles, tossing them into the pile as the blunette glanced at you while talking to Nagisa (That was his Name, you confirmed) and Gou./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hey guys, sorry we're late- Huh?" You glanced up at the tall male in front of you, recognizing him immediately as the guy who started everything. You stepped out of the way, not bothering to say anything to him as he gulped before walking by./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Haru-chan, the pool's ready for you to swim!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Suddenly, you heard a splash, turning around to see the black haired male in the water. You finished putting the water bottles in place and stood up, crossing your arms before staring at the male. You weren't an expert with swimming, but there was no doubt he was good./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Trouble's already done," Gou commented, earning your attention immediately. "[Last Name], do you know anything about swimming? Anything helpful to our club?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"This earned the attention from the blunette and Nagisa, and you bit your dark lip./p  
p class="MsoNormal""No."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Does that mean you can't swim?" Nagisa asked, curiosity in his voice./p  
p class="MsoNormal"What kind of question was that? Can you swim? Duh, anyone who is over the age of 6 can swim. It'd be sad if you couldn't./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Can't swim." You said, tapping your nails against your thigh. If you supposedly couldn't swim, then how could they bother you to help with swimming?/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Oh," The blunette stated, "If you would like, I'm sure one of us could teach you that way you could help us improve- Wait." He stopped, "I need to introduce myself; I am Rei Ryugazaki. I suppose I should say it's nice to meet you, but on these terms..."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You could feel your lips turn into a half smile at his statement, clearly he was a bit sarcastic- And well sarcasm was your preferred language./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well I suppose I should introduce myself, but on these terms..." You shrugged, earning a 'humph' from Rei as he made his way towards the locker room./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Wait for me!" Nagisa said, chasing after him into the locker room./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Um… I'd better go too." The tall one said, and you didn't acknowledge him as he walked to the locker room, quickly shuffling past you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You made your attention back to whom you were going to call the 'Dolphin' because he was insanely fast in the water and you probably wouldn't bother to know his name./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You really can't swim?" The girl said from next to you, "You really can't help us besides stacking water bottles." She mumbled, and you really didn't care about her statement./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Don't really think I can do much for the club. It'd honestly be best if I just left-"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I second her statement."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You watched as the swimmer stepped out of the water, seeing how Gou practically drooled over him. Not that you were all that interested, but he certainly had impressive muscles. strongReally impressive muscles./strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"His eyes locked with yours, and you remembered him as the one who was increasingly worried about his pool. Gou seemed to remember the situation as she snapped out of her muscle trance, quickly jabbing a finger towards you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Haru, you can't just let criminals off the hook like this! She needs to do something at least partially useful, because honestly it's the least she could do!" The redhead huffed, causing you to sigh in annoyance./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Look, I can help if I'm given something to do." You reached into your boot, pulling out the smartphone. "But until you give me something to do, than I won't do anything." You raised your hands in mock surrender, "I haven't got any weapons with me if that's what your worried about."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'll check!" Shouted the blonde one as he sprinted out of the locker room, causing you to cross your arms./p  
p class="MsoNormal""As if I'd let a 6 year old pat me down." You watched as Rei hurried out as well, staring at the scene. "If anyone, let it be someone who can actually reach my pockets."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hey! I'm not short, or six years old!" He shouted, annoyed at your statement. "I bet I can reach your pockets, you're only a couple inches taller than me anyways!" He glared at you as you watched the blunette sigh at your argument./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I think we should go practice, Nagisa." Rei interrupted as the blonde glared at you, quickly putting on his swim cap and goggles, mumbling about being tall./p  
p class="MsoNormal""If you're only going to antagonize our swimmers," Gou started, "Than you can be quiet, or I'll make you silent myself!" She threatened you, and you took this as an opportunity to shrug and start attempting to text Em. You were still pretty ticked off- Heck, she hadn't even come to school since you got in trouble./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You exchanged a look with Haru (Dolphin seemed to fit him better), before he followed the other two towards the pool./p  
p class="MsoNormal""So, what's the routine?" Makoto asked as he walked out of the locker room, gulping as you cast a look in his direction. "Uh, if we have one, today, that is…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Perfect!" Gou said, and soon you had a paper shoved in your face. "I have to go take care of some paperwork, so Trouble can read off the routine!" And with that she ran off, leaving you holding the routine in your hands./p  
p class="MsoNormal""This is like a foreign language." You said, sliding the phone into your boot with your free hand./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I could help explain," He started, and you noticed he had way more impressive muscles than Dolphin boy. "If you wanted me to-!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You just gave a nod and he swallowed before starting to explain what each meant, stuttering and nervously glancing at your expression as he did so./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He was probably nervous around girls, or he was nervous being shirtless, but he was a swimmer so that must be a problem… Or maybe he was gay and didn't want to be near women? Honestly, you knew nothing about these people, so anything was possible./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I don't exactly have a whistle, but yelling works, um… that's all I guess!" He said, turning back to face you. "I think I covered everything, r-right?" He spoke uneasily as you bit your lip./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Sure, go swim or whatever." You mumbled, watching as he got in the pool, talking to his friends as you made your way closer, ready to instruct. "Alright!" You yelled loudly, walking down the side of the pool. "Apparently you're supposed to work on the switches during a relay, so get into position!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You were surprised as they listened, getting into their places, Makoto the only one in the pool./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You yelled for them to go, and watched them./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Just watching them swim; it was incredible. As if you'd tell them that. But it was quick, and everyone was good in their own ways. This made you feel even angrier though, seeing as they seemed pretty harmless./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Makoto seemed like a 'boy next door' kind of guy- Simple and easygoing./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You really don't even see how he could have made her angry, what did he do? Say she couldn't sit with him at lunch? Accidentally stepped on her shoe? Cut in line? Seriously, he was way too boring to do something worth getting revenge./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"~ ~ ~/p  
p class="MsoNormal""And done!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You finished for 10supth/sup time today, clicking the stopwatch Gou had given you, mumbling something about how if you broke it you'd owe her./p  
p class="MsoNormal""So, Trouble, did we shave off any time?" Nagisa asked, and by this point you'd figured that would be your nickname./p  
p class="MsoNormal""A least a couple seconds," You said, "But I think if you had swam faster it would've been a couple seconds more, Blondie." You said, hoping to annoy him, seeing as he didn't care about annoying you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I can't swim any faster!" He shouted back angrily, puffing out his cheeks before going into the locker room, Rei sending you a look before following him in./p  
p class="MsoNormal""So, do you think we could improve on anything?" Makoto asked, nervously scratching the back of his neck as he made his way towards you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You took a moment to look at him before handing him the stopwatch and clipboard./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You know," You began, walking over to grab your backpack. "It makes me wonder what a guy like you could've done. You're basically the definition of normal, excluding the muscles, of course." You slung your bag over your shoulder, "I wouldn't take that as a compliment or an insult. More of a statement, if you will."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strong3suprd/sup P.O.V./strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"[Name] walked away from the pool, Makoto staring after her before glancing at the clipboard and stopwatch in his hands, his hair dripping onto the paper. She had scribbled a couple of notes on there, her handwriting neat yet slanted./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Makoto," His friend started, getting out of the pool. "I wouldn't listen to her, she's only trying to mess with your mind." Haruka stated, his voice low and filled with bitterness towards the girl- Which was surprising, seeing as he never really expressed his own feelings that much./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Haru, that's not what I'm surprised about…" He held out the clipboard to his friend, "She actually wrote some tips for us. Didn't she say she didn't even know how to swim?" Makoto asked as Haruka looked over the paper, his blue eyes dark./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I think so…" He then proceeded to walk in the locker room, the paper in his hands./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Makoto smiled a little to himself before walking in after him./p 


	4. Chapter 3

"Where were you?" Gou asked you, her face expressing annoyance. "You have to show up on time, you can't just slack off on your second week!" She shouted, anger in her tone. "You still owe us because we lost a week of practicing because of your stupid stunt!" She yelled louder at you, and you sighed, running a hand through your hair.

"I needed to take a drag, _Gou._ So I'd appreciate it if you didn't hassle me for being a little late." You said, dropping your bag on the ground. "I'm here now, so what do you want me to do?" You asked, annoyed.

"I'd normally make you swim a couple laps, but you can't even swim, so, go clean up the locker room once everyone is done." She grinned wickedly before shouting, "And it's KOU!"

You leaned forward, almost in disbelief at what she had said.

"Clean the locker room?" You said, raising your eyebrows. "I don't know what's in there, and I certainly don't wanna find out. I've been in male locker rooms, and I will say one thing: I'm not going back." You finished, crossing your arms over your chest before pursing your lips to get your point across.

"You've been in a guy's locker room before?" She asked, curiosity overtaking her annoyance. "Why would you ever go in there? I mean, unless you had to…"

"Well," You began, a slight smile coming on your face. "Never ever go to the pool with a bunch of 8th graders when you're still in 4th grade. I was willing to do just about anything to get noticed by them, that's for sure." You let out a slight laugh, "Told me I had to go and steal a guy's shirt from the locker room- I did it, but certainly I can't unsee those things."

She shook her head in amusement, "Please, I've got an older brother, he's done some things that were way worse than that." She cast a look at the locker room, "I do have a question though, why do you smoke? I mean, I'm sure that you know it's bad for your lungs."

Not a topic you wanted to discuss, and by asking that, she had ruined whatever sort of social interaction the two of you started to have.

"I should go and clean the locker room." You said, tapping your hands against your thigh, glancing at the locker room as the guys walked out, Haru quickly getting into the pool, Rei and Nagisa- Or more specifically Nagisa sent you a glare before getting into the pool.

Makoto did his usual gulp and glance before getting into the pool as well, and you soon- hesitantly, you should add, made your way into the locker room.

It was a lot smaller than the one you had been in as a kid, and it vaguely made you remember the time you had walked back to the 8th graders, only to find they had left.

You shook your head at the memory before going to pick up the trash they had left- most of it coming from Nagisa's area, consisting of candy wrappers and half eaten loaves of stale melon bread. You had only come across some mildly disgusting things, such as boxers- You hoped they were clean, but either way you had picked them up, using a piece of paper as a barrier between your fingers and the fabric.

You wrinkled your nose before tossing them into an empty locker, dropping the contaminated paper on the ground, slamming the locker shut.

You went to pick up the paper to toss away, but you stopped, recognizing your handwriting. You didn't touch it, but also noticed extra handwriting on there, a green pen contrasting your silver writing.

There was several extra notes, such as:

 _Rei needs to work on this specifically, Nagisa needs to do this while Haru needs to do…_

Out of curiosity, you flipped it over, making sure to touch the edge, and your [eye color] eyes widened.

Whoever had your notes- One of the swimmers, no doubt, had shaded in the drawing of a dolphin with green. You had basically started doodling on the back, because Gou had taken your phone as you were bored with the entire thing.

"Uh, [Last Name]-san, Haru wanted to see you about something."

You blinked to see Rei looking down at you, your expression unreadable as you pursed your lips.

"I see you're…"

"Just slacking off, I guess." You said flatly, standing up and bringing your boot onto the paper, crinkling it as you walked away. "Haru is the one with black hair, right?" You asked, noting that if you wanted this punishment to be over faster, you should learn people's names, no matter how uninterested you were.

You walked outside, seeing that Gou was explaining something to Nagisa and Makoto, as Haru- Dolphin, was at the edge of the pool.

"[Last Name]-san," He greeted, and it made you realize this was the first time talking to you. "You know some stuff about swimming, right?"

You wondered why Dolphin-boy had bothered to come to you about swimming, clearly he didn't need your advice, or maybe he was just trying to make you look bad.

Before you could say anything, you felt yourself being pushed, falling into the water, your eyes wide as you hit it with a splash.

"Haru!"

"She can't swim!"

You swam upwards, gasping for breath as you wiped your hair from your face, angrily wading above the water, to be met with blue eyes. You grabbed the side and got up, quickly making a beeline for your blazer, knowing very well the white shirt was now see through.

"She can swim," Haru said as you quickly pulled on your blazer, squeezing the water out of your hair, sending him an angry look. "She also knows a lot about swimming."

You didn't respond as you squeezed the water from your skirt, knowing very well that all eyes were on you.

"Haru-chan, how did you know that Trouble could swim?" Nagisa asked, and you had looked up as well, making sure that your blazer was securely wrapped around your soaking wet body.

Haru merely shrugged, getting back into the water as you walked over to your bag, holding it so you wouldn't get it wet.

"[Last Name]-san, are you leaving?" You heard Makoto asked, surprise in his tone.

"I'm going to take a drag, then I'm leaving." You said bitterly. "You know, big guy, I never intended to join this club, and I don't intend to stay. I might be good at giving orders and writing down times, but I'm bad at everything else. That's what I'm known for. Being bad." And with that, you stormed off, your boots squishing out water as you left.

You stepped off the school property before lighting a cigarette, shivering lightly as you breathed out the smoke. The cancer stick fit neatly between your fingers as you watched people walk by, some ignoring you while others glanced at your appearance quizzically,

You figured you looked like a mess, and normally you'd be in a rush to clean it up, but you didn't really have it in you. Not like your friends would bother to talk to you since you got involved in the swim club, in fact, ever since the incident it was like they removed themselves from the planet.

But, it was their fault. In fact, what kind of friends were they to just leave you like this?! You took another long drag, opening up your faded lips to release the smoke. They weren't even that good friends, but it's how they rolled. You could either keep up or be left behind, or at least that seemed to be their motto.

 **3** **rd** **P.O.V.**

"Haru, is there any reason why you pushed [Name] into the water?" Gou asked the male as he came up for air, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Normally I'd go after her, but I think she's pretty mad… And she's a lot bigger than me… And she generally is unapproachable…" She laughed nervously as Haru shrugged.

"She just seemed to know a lot about swimming, Kou." Haru said, "If you knew that much, you must be able to swim."

And with that he swam back under the water, Gou putting a hand to her chin, almost in thought.

"If she does know a lot about swimming… Why is she so against swim club? Why did she vandalize it in the first place?" She glanced at Makoto who spoke with the other two swimmers, "Does she actually have something against Makoto we don't know about?"

She shook her head, her eyes cast to the locker room.

She walked inside, knowing very well that it wasn't as bad as [Name] had previously made it seem. She was surprised that it was actually decent, the trash had been picked up, no boxers seemed to litter the ground… She jumped as something crinkled beneath her foot.

She reached down to pick it up, her eyes scanning the image of a dolphin, draw in silver pen, slightly shaded with a dark blue one. Her eyes widened as she noticed the handwriting on the other side, she quickly grabbed it and ran through the door to the pool.

"She's not guilty!"


	5. Chapter 4

p class="MsoNormal"Going to school was probably something you could live without, considering you don't even need held of the subjects you study unless you're going to become a teacher in one of them. History was probably the most boring, and it's not like you had a choice on whether you could show up or not./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Your parents were back in town, and so far they had taken your smart phone, said you could only smoke one cigarette per day, and were only allowed to go to and from school, only staying for swim practice. Then you'd go home and listen to them go on and on about your brother and how he was doing so much for the family by studying abroad in England./p  
p class="MsoNormal"As they would say in England: That twit./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You let out a sigh as you stared at the chalkboard, the numbers boring you. You tapped your fingers on your thigh, glancing at the digital clock now and then. Somehow, being in class only seemed to make your more stupid- Not that you were, heck you had a great GPA of 3.0! Hah, not really, B's were too great, but whatever. Good enough, right?/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ms. [Last Name], would you like to answer the question on the board before we finish?" The teacher asked you, narrowing her eyes seeing that you weren't paying attention./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Not really." You said, earning a sigh from the teacher who looked exhausted already, considering it was your last period./p  
p class="MsoNormal""It wasn't optional. Answer it, please." She asked exasperatedly, rubbing her temple in annoyance./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Alright," You said, sending her a wicked grin. "I think that he actually bought a large birthday cake with all the money he received," She glared her eyes, "But then he returned it to by his mansion, which is near the museum today." You concluded, and she gave you a grateful nod as the bell rang, students making their way out of 3C Classroom./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Last Name], wait." She said, catching your attention as you paused your packing up./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You seem to be answering my questions correctly, and you've shown up today." She spoke, her tone grateful and tired. "I'm glad to see you're turning over a new leaf, seeing as you joined the swim team." Her statement caused you to give a short, sarcastic laugh./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well, let's just say this new leaf is a little waterlogged." You said, flashing a cheeky grin before walking out of the classroom, slowly of course, since you were on your way to swim club. You just hoped you didn't actually have to swim, now that they knew, but it was a Gou you were worried about./p  
p class="MsoNormal"More like anticipating. But you could intimidate the hell out of her; in fact, you did just casually talking to her. You liked that about your boots. Height meant power- Although clearly Makoto felt differently. He seemed intimidated by you in general, not that you were complaining of course./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Name]!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You froze as you heard your first name called; nobody and emnobody /emcalled you that, at least anyone from school. Your parents were the only ones who called you that, and even then it was uncommon. They had taken to calling you 'Trouble' and so did most of the swim club, well the ones who talked to you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You quickly turned around, your boot hitting the floor in annoyance as you were met by an eager looking blonde. Nagisa. Of course, it was no longer surprising. He and you were constantly annoying and bothering one another, you did it merely at his attempts to be your friend? Maybe, or something weird that little blonde guys who swim do. You didn't know his motive though, to be honest./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Name]-chan, you have to come to swim club!" He shouted, inflating his cheeks as usual. "It's super important!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Drop the –Chan and don't call me [Name]." You directed, narrowing your darkly colored eyes at him. "And I planned on coming anyways. What's so important?" You shot him a look, "You're not here to tell me I need a swimsuit. I was told to help out your club, by all means, Blondie, not join it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""No!" He said, clearly tired from running. "And I like [Name]-chan, it suits you better than Trouble!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"This made you eye him warily./p  
p class="MsoNormal""What do you mean by that?" You asked cautiously, earning a sheepish grin from the shorter male./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Um, just come to swim club!" He said, eyeing you back, a bead of sweat rolling down his face. "You'll find out soon!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You strode past him, towards the swim club, Nagisa following in suite./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Like hell I'm going to the swim club." You spat bitterly, your arms folded over your chest as your heel hit the floor, Nagisa laughing nervously next to you. "So, what's the deal? You seem to know, and I'm looking for an answer, shortie."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Hey! I prefer Nagisa or even Blondie over shortie!" He yelled back, waving his arms for extra effect. "And I don't think I'll tell you that, em[Name]-chan./em" Your eye twitched as his last comment as you walked with him to the pool, annoyance and anger radiating off you in waves./p  
p class="MsoNormal"As soon as you walked up the steps to the pool, Nagisa cut in front of you, waving his arms in the air./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Beware, this creature called [Name] is in a tense state! It'd be best if we leave her be!" He shouted to all the others as you shoved past him, glaring at the others./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'd love to know what's going on, if that's anything." You snapped at the swimmers before glaring at Nagisa. "And call me [Name] again, and the last thing you ever see will be the pool." You hissed at him, causing the boy to give you a cheeky grin./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Suddenly, Gou had a paper in your face, one you recognized immediately./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Oh god, don't put that it my face!" You yelled, backing up from her, hitting someone else. You glanced over your shoulder to see Haru giving you a look before sighing and looking at the pool. "What's that supposed to mean? That I gave you guys some tips on swimming? I've watched people swim before, big whoop. I don't see your point." You finished, backing off of Haru./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Gou stared at the paper before flipping it over, pointing at the image of the dolphin you had drawn. What was that supposed to mean? You couldn't draw? Duh, it was a doodle. What were they going to do? Probably throw you overboard for bad art? Oh no, whatever shall you do?/p  
p class="MsoNormal""This is awful!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'Well you didn't have to drag me here to tell me that…"/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Again, I don't see your point." You glanced at Rei and Makoto, who both nervously looked away under your glare. "I'm sorry I can't draw." You let out a sigh and shrugged, clearly unaware of what Gou meant./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well yeah…" She trailed off before pulling out her phone, showing you an image of the vandalism. There it was, the Iwatobi bird with red x eyes. "This is a really good picture, and the art style is totally different from your own. You couldn't have drawn this- Or spray painted it at all!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Your [eye color] eyes darted to the side as you stuck your hands in the pocket of your blazer, awkwardly kicking the ground./p  
p class="MsoNormal""So? I told Blondie in the first place that I wasn't the one who did it." You mumbled, looking at the concrete, earning a scoff from the girl who stood in front of you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""So?" She questioned, crossing her arms over her chest, the paper still in hand. This also made you think of where the paper had been, but it's not like you were one to tell people what to do (Personally, you were just glad she didn't literally shove it in your face.) "Why didn't you just tell the principal who actually did it? We all thought you were bad!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"emWe all strongspan style="text-decoration: underline;"thought /span/strongyou were bad. strongThought. span style="text-decoration: underline;"THOUGHT./span/strong/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Oh, by all means I'm still bad. I was indeed here the night of the incident, I did indeed smoke some cigarettes and I did indeed feel a little angry at Tall Guy over there." You cast a look at the olive haired male who flinched at your statement. "I'm not a tattle tale, though. So, I took the fall for a friend. I don't see anything wrong with that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"emWell, to be truthful you hadn't even seen that so-called friend of yours since then. But that's how they rolled. It was normal they'd lay low for a couple days- or weeks. They'd show up once it all blew over./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You finally glanced up, and it was first for you to feel a little uneasy. You consciously bit your lip, and straightened a little bit, staring at Gou./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You know, this is starting to creep me a little out." You concluded, glancing at the usually boisterous, loud, energetic Nagisa- But, he looked a little… Sad?/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I don't think those were real friends," He started, and you gave a little sigh, curling your hands into tight fists. "If they really had cared they wouldn't have let you take the fall for something so big-"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Stop talking to her." Haruka interrupted, causing you to glance in his direction. "It's clear she doesn't want her emfriends /emto get in trouble, Nagisa. I think we should get ready for practice." Haruka finished, and you uncurled your fists, suddenly feeling the hate towards Haru decrease a little./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You stepped out of the way and watched as Haru walked into the locker room, his friends following in suite. Makoto paused in front of you, and turned to look at you, his emerald eyes darkened./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'm really sorry for whatever I did." He said, apologizing to you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Not like it can be fixed now." You replied to the male before sending him a shrug, "Let's just forget 'bout it. Better get ready or you'll be swimming some extra laps." You finished, earning a small smile from him as he walked into the locker room./p  
p class="MsoNormal"That left you and Gou alone, and you finally looked in her direction, the tooth on your lip only loosening up as she tossed you something. You caught it with ease, looking at the stopwatch in your hands./p  
p class="MsoNormal""If you won't tell him the truth, I suppose you'll still be in our club. You'd better not slack off or you'll be in the pool soon." She said, her voice a little quieter than usual, a small trace of humor in her voice. "By the time I get back, you'd better have worked those boys have to death or I'll make you work to death!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Somehow, you felt a little reminder of middle school in the back of your brain./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Somehow, nostalgia made you want to vomit./p 


	6. Chapter 5

p class="MsoNormal"Sometimes you weren't sure if guys tried to be stupid, or it just came naturally to them, along with learning how to breathe and to blink. But as you sat in class, a bored expression on your face as the teacher droned on, you felt the smart phone in your boot vibrate against your leg./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You blinked before sliding it out, blinking at the screen, your usual bored eyes wide./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'I should be coming home soon, Trouble. I hope we can hang out, but if not I get it. I am that much more attractive than you, so being around me must infuriate you.'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You gave an angry sigh before shoving the phone back into your boot. That asshole. How dare he be so arrogant as to think such a thing?! Sure, you couldn't help that he had a better face shape than you, but he was the adopted one!/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You heard the bell ring and quickly got up along with the other students, rushing to leave the class for your free lunch period. You walked out and were a nose length away from a familiar purple eyed male who quickly backed up, rubbing the back of his neck as Nagisa jumped in front of him./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Name]-chan! We came to eat lunch with you since your friends aren't here!" He offered, earning a scoff from you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""No thanks, Blondie." You answered, your [eye color] eyes flickering to the window. "I need to go smoke, and I'm not allowed to do so on school grounds." You finished, waving your hand absentmindedly as you started to walk away. "And don't call me [Name]-chan." You snapped back, realizing he did it again./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Your just as bad as Haru sometimes…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"That made you stop in your tracks, whipping your head back at the two, your eyes narrowed into tight slits./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'll go eat lunch with you," You said, walking back over to the two. "But don't compare me to any of your dumb swimming friends, ever again. They don't know the meaning of bad." Your eyes flicked towards Rei who gulped under your gaze, and it reminded you of Makoto./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Got it." Nagisa said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck before walking in front of you, towards the swim club area. Go figure./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You walked beside Rei, typing into your phone, ignoring the tension between the two boys and you. You were texting Hibiki, your brother, eyes narrowed at his arrogance. Sometimes you just wanted to slap that boy, even if he was so-called related to you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'I can't hang out with you, even if I wanted to, which I don't. Leave me alone.' /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'Aww, I was hoping you'd help me update my iPhone with some new songs. Don't get so butthurt about my previous text, Sis.'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'Stop texting me. I'm in school.'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'Since when have you ever followed the rules?'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You let out an angry sigh before dropping your phone into your boot, earning some attention from Rei. You glanced back at him as he stared at you confused, his eyes darting to your boot where you had dropped the phone moments ago./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ever know those kind of people who just try and annoy you?" You questioned him, earning an eyebrow raise and a nod. "That is the kind of person I was texting, and let me say, Glasses, I'd take this club over him any day."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Aww I see someone likes us!" Nagisa piped up as we neared the pool, his eyes sparkling. "I bet you'll be telling us all we swim great soon!" He commented, putting his hands on his hips as he looked up at you expectantly./p  
p class="MsoNormal""As if. I compared you guys to a prick," You began, rolling your dark eyes, "If that's a win for you than I wonder what a loss is. And by all means I wouldn't lie to you guys, you're swimming is… okay, but I'm sure I've seen better." You waved your hand to the side and earned a huff from Nagisa, while Rei quickly began to mumble something about how they're great at swimming./p  
p class="MsoNormal"So, maybe you shouldn't have done that, but it'd be best if they left you alone. He compared your bad-ness to a quiet swimmer. That was an insult, of course he deserved you saying that to him. Even if it was mildly against your morals you had done so./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But then again, they always said nobody could be too bad./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Why is she here?" Gou questioned as soon as she saw you walk behind Rei and Nagisa, earning her a wicked grin./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nice to see you too, Kou." You greeted sarcastically, and you watched Makoto stand up, sweat dropping./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Let's not be rude, we're all on a team here." He said, in a weak attempt to settle things down. "I was wondering if we could talk about the district tournament coming up, seeing as it's only a month away, we need to practice." He explained as you sat down- Keeping your distance from the others./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Haruka looked to be the only one uninterested, his blue eyes staring at the pool. You drummed your fingers on your thigh and stared at him peculiarly, wondering for a moment how you could be compared to him./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Last Name], if you'd help out with the coaching," Makoto started, and you turned your eyes to him, your eyelids drooping lazily. He then finished quickly, stuttering, "I-If that works, b-because our normal coach has been b-busy!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Whatever. Not like I have much of a choice anyways," You mumbled, debating whether or not you should leave. It wasn't like it was required for you to be here, in fact you only had to be there from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM for club hours, and you left right on the dot. But you wanted to stay, because what Blondie had said really got to you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Haruka is by all means, well the means you knew of, nothing like you. Since when has he even spoken to you? Had he? You don't remember even talking to the male, let alone you understanding how you two were similar. Height was probably the only thing the two of you had in common, and yours wasn't even natural./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I think that Haru just needs to work on swimming faster, he only really swims full power against my brother." Gou explained, bringing you back to attention. She said brother? Haru can swim emeven /emfaster? That was insane. He'd lap you in a heartbeat. "Haru?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I can't just swim better," He stated bluntly. "It just… Doesn't work like that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nope, nothing in common, zero, no similarities at all./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Last Name]-san, do you have any tips?" Rei questioned you, bringing you back into the conversation. You wondered why they just wouldn't give up already, it was clear you didn't roll with these kinds of people to begin with./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know," You shrugged, "Just swim for fun, I mean if you put too much pressure on yourself you'll only suck. Just, I don't guess swim because you like to." You concluded, putting your fist under your chin boredly./p  
p class="MsoNormal"All eyes were on you again, and by this point you couldn't quite pick up why they kept looking at you or why you were strongso /stronginteresting. You just told them what any person would tell them, right?/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Oh no!" Nagisa shouted, pulling you and everyone else out of the random silence. "I just remembered that I have to study for a test, Rei we have to go! Our test is next period!" He jumped up, quickly pulling the male with him away from the Swim Club. You blinked after them, and thought for a moment. Nagisa didn't seem like the type to do badly in school, and it really didn't fit his image. He seemed like an average smart guy, to be honest, but then again you looked like a flunkie./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Haru! You can't just pull off your clothes!" Your eyes wandered over to the male who was suddenly unbuttoning his pants and you quickly flushed, hiding your eyes. He really wasn't going to skinny dip?! "[Name], he's got his swimsuit on, typically…" You heard Makoto say, quickly clearing your throat as you forced your cheeks to turn their normal shade./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Seriously, nothing in common! You would NEVER just strip and go swimming! Let alone have a swimsuit under your clothes! God, does he even believe he is human? He must have been raised by dolphins- Wait./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Call me [Name] again," You threatened, standing up to glare down at Makoto. "And I'll personally see that you won't ever be able to backstroke again." You hissed, your eyes glaring into him, and you watched him nod quickly, flinching as you walked past him, crossing your arms over your chest./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You know, you should really be less rude because the principal always said you could go to jail instead of helping our club out." Gou pointed out from behind you, earning a little huff from you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Okay, I'll be way nicer!" You said in a happy-go lucky tone, winking at Makoto sarcastically. "You guys are so awesome! And nice muscles too, wow, I might as well be in boy heaven! Best punishment ever, am I right, Kou-chan?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You watched as Makoto's face turned red at your comments while Gou sweatdropped at you, her bangs falling over her face. You immediately dropped the act and gave the two of them a wicked grin, your eyes sparkling mischievously./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Look, Kou, I don't do nice." You said, walking over the fence around the pool, putting your hand on it and putting your boot in one of the indents, hoisting yourself up. "Being bad just seems easier, ya know?" You finished, swinging your boot up and gripping the metal as you positioned yourself to sit on the edge of the fence, looking at Haruka swim./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'd be careful, [Last Name], it m-might be dangerous!" Makoto yelled to you, his face still flushed from earlier. Seriously, you'd think the guy had Gynophobia (Fear of Women) by how much he stuttered and gulped around you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Since when have I care about danger?" You replied back, an outline of a smile forming on your face as you felt the breeze in your hair, staring down at the swimmer. You turned your head back towards Gou and Makoto only a few minutes later, to see they had left./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You steadied yourself before grabbing your smart phone from your boot, checking the time. Okay, 5 minutes somehow turned into a half an hour. You slowly made your way off the fence, your boots hitting the ground with a thud before glancing at Haru who was emstill /emswimming./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yo Dolphin, you know we have practice later, right?" You questioned the male who stopped swimming to look at you, surprise sparking in his eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," He started swimming over to the edge where you were. "But I'm swimming now because I'm free." He began to get out, standing in front of you, water dripping from his emshot /s/embody. "Why the name Dolphin, anyways?" He questioned you, earning a small smirk of your own./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well, you just swim like one. No insult though, you're pretty fast." You complimented awkwardly. If anyone wasn't going to try and be nice, or take your compliment as a sign of friendship, it was him. "Nice to see someone who doesn't have a big head about swimming." You said, running a hand through your [hair color] hair./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He stared at you for a moment, before brushing past you, droplets of water getting on your face and hair. "The water likes you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""So you're a water whisperer?" You asked, confused. But that would explain why he swims so much, and that emI'm free /emcrap. "That would not surprise me, Dolphin. You just seem like that kind of guy, to be honest."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""No, when I pulled you into the water, the water liked you. You couldn't have been the one who vandalized the pool, or the water would hate you." He flipped his black hair at you, his blue orbs cloudy. "You're not bad. You just think you are."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'm not bad?! Is that it? Ask anyone in school, I'm as bad as it gets." You huffed back, the hate meter going up for this Haruka guy. "Nagisa compared me to you, and I don't know what he thought we had in common. You and I will always be complete opposites." You fired at him, your boots hitting the ground as you walked away. "You know, Haruka, I'll thank you for getting them off me when I said I stuck by my friends, cause I'm as loyal as anyone. You wouldn't know the meaning of loyalty if it hit you in the face, considering all you care about is yourself. You might be free and all, but maybe not everyone is."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strongHaruka P.O.V./strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"I stared after her, my hands limp at my sides. She just left after saying that? But she called Nagisa by his actual name… She seemed nice, under all that makeup, but the next minute she was as rough as sandpaper./p  
p class="MsoNormal"She doesn't know me, and I'm sure I don't know the real [Name]. She's not as bad as she makes out to be, if she was she'd be different./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But she's not./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But that doesn't mean she has the right to say I don't care about my friends, but she's right about not everyone being free. Something tells me she's one of them./p 


	7. Chapter 6

p class="MsoNormal"Sometimes you weren't sure if guys tried to be stupid, or it just came naturally to them, along with learning how to breathe and to blink. But as you sat in class, a bored expression on your face as the teacher droned on, you felt the smart phone in your boot vibrate against your leg./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You blinked before sliding it out, blinking at the screen, your usual bored eyes wide./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'I should be coming home soon, Trouble. I hope we can hang out, but if not I get it. I am that much more attractive than you, so being around me must infuriate you.'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You gave an angry sigh before shoving the phone back into your boot. That asshole. How dare he be so arrogant as to think such a thing?! Sure, you couldn't help that he had a better face shape than you, but he was the adopted one!/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You heard the bell ring and quickly got up along with the other students, rushing to leave the class for your free lunch period. You walked out and were a nose length away from a familiar purple eyed male who quickly backed up, rubbing the back of his neck as Nagisa jumped in front of him./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Name]-chan! We came to eat lunch with you since your friends aren't here!" He offered, earning a scoff from you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""No thanks, Blondie." You answered, your [eye color] eyes flickering to the window. "I need to go smoke, and I'm not allowed to do so on school grounds." You finished, waving your hand absentmindedly as you started to walk away. "And don't call me [Name]-chan." You snapped back, realizing he did it again./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Your just as bad as Haru sometimes…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"That made you stop in your tracks, whipping your head back at the two, your eyes narrowed into tight slits./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'll go eat lunch with you," You said, walking back over to the two. "But don't compare me to any of your dumb swimming friends, ever again. They don't know the meaning of bad." Your eyes flicked towards Rei who gulped under your gaze, and it reminded you of Makoto./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Got it." Nagisa said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck before walking in front of you, towards the swim club area. Go figure./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You walked beside Rei, typing into your phone, ignoring the tension between the two boys and you. You were texting Hibiki, your brother, eyes narrowed at his arrogance. Sometimes you just wanted to slap that boy, even if he was so-called related to you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'I can't hang out with you, even if I wanted to, which I don't. Leave me alone.' /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'Aww, I was hoping you'd help me update my iPhone with some new songs. Don't get so butthurt about my previous text, Sis.'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'Stop texting me. I'm in school.'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em'Since when have you ever followed the rules?'/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You let out an angry sigh before dropping your phone into your boot, earning some attention from Rei. You glanced back at him as he stared at you confused, his eyes darting to your boot where you had dropped the phone moments ago./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ever know those kind of people who just try and annoy you?" You questioned him, earning an eyebrow raise and a nod. "That is the kind of person I was texting, and let me say, Glasses, I'd take this club over him any day."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Aww I see someone likes us!" Nagisa piped up as we neared the pool, his eyes sparkling. "I bet you'll be telling us all we swim great soon!" He commented, putting his hands on his hips as he looked up at you expectantly./p  
p class="MsoNormal""As if. I compared you guys to a prick," You began, rolling your dark eyes, "If that's a win for you than I wonder what a loss is. And by all means I wouldn't lie to you guys, you're swimming is… okay, but I'm sure I've seen better." You waved your hand to the side and earned a huff from Nagisa, while Rei quickly began to mumble something about how they're great at swimming./p  
p class="MsoNormal"So, maybe you shouldn't have done that, but it'd be best if they left you alone. He compared your bad-ness to a quiet swimmer. That was an insult, of course he deserved you saying that to him. Even if it was mildly against your morals you had done so./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But then again, they always said nobody could be too bad./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Why is she here?" Gou questioned as soon as she saw you walk behind Rei and Nagisa, earning her a wicked grin./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nice to see you too, Kou." You greeted sarcastically, and you watched Makoto stand up, sweat dropping./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Let's not be rude, we're all on a team here." He said, in a weak attempt to settle things down. "I was wondering if we could talk about the district tournament coming up, seeing as it's only a month away, we need to practice." He explained as you sat down- Keeping your distance from the others./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Haruka looked to be the only one uninterested, his blue eyes staring at the pool. You drummed your fingers on your thigh and stared at him peculiarly, wondering for a moment how you could be compared to him./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Last Name], if you'd help out with the coaching," Makoto started, and you turned your eyes to him, your eyelids drooping lazily. He then finished quickly, stuttering, "I-If that works, b-because our normal coach has been b-busy!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Whatever. Not like I have much of a choice anyways," You mumbled, debating whether or not you should leave. It wasn't like it was required for you to be here, in fact you only had to be there from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM for club hours, and you left right on the dot. But you wanted to stay, because what Blondie had said really got to you./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Haruka is by all means, well the means you knew of, nothing like you. Since when has he even spoken to you? Had he? You don't remember even talking to the male, let alone you understanding how you two were similar. Height was probably the only thing the two of you had in common, and yours wasn't even natural./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I think that Haru just needs to work on swimming faster, he only really swims full power against my brother." Gou explained, bringing you back to attention. She said brother? Haru can swim emeven /emfaster? That was insane. He'd lap you in a heartbeat. "Haru?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I can't just swim better," He stated bluntly. "It just… Doesn't work like that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"Nope, nothing in common, zero, no similarities at all./p  
p class="MsoNormal""[Last Name]-san, do you have any tips?" Rei questioned you, bringing you back into the conversation. You wondered why they just wouldn't give up already, it was clear you didn't roll with these kinds of people to begin with./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know," You shrugged, "Just swim for fun, I mean if you put too much pressure on yourself you'll only suck. Just, I don't guess swim because you like to." You concluded, putting your fist under your chin boredly./p  
p class="MsoNormal"All eyes were on you again, and by this point you couldn't quite pick up why they kept looking at you or why you were strongso /stronginteresting. You just told them what any person would tell them, right?/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Oh no!" Nagisa shouted, pulling you and everyone else out of the random silence. "I just remembered that I have to study for a test, Rei we have to go! Our test is next period!" He jumped up, quickly pulling the male with him away from the Swim Club. You blinked after them, and thought for a moment. Nagisa didn't seem like the type to do badly in school, and it really didn't fit his image. He seemed like an average smart guy, to be honest, but then again you looked like a flunkie./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Haru! You can't just pull off your clothes!" Your eyes wandered over to the male who was suddenly unbuttoning his pants and you quickly flushed, hiding your eyes. He really wasn't going to skinny dip?! "[Name], he's got his swimsuit on, typically…" You heard Makoto say, quickly clearing your throat as you forced your cheeks to turn their normal shade./p  
p class="MsoNormal"Seriously, nothing in common! You would NEVER just strip and go swimming! Let alone have a swimsuit under your clothes! God, does he even believe he is human? He must have been raised by dolphins- Wait./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Call me [Name] again," You threatened, standing up to glare down at Makoto. "And I'll personally see that you won't ever be able to backstroke again." You hissed, your eyes glaring into him, and you watched him nod quickly, flinching as you walked past him, crossing your arms over your chest./p  
p class="MsoNormal""You know, you should really be less rude because the principal always said you could go to jail instead of helping our club out." Gou pointed out from behind you, earning a little huff from you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Okay, I'll be way nicer!" You said in a happy-go lucky tone, winking at Makoto sarcastically. "You guys are so awesome! And nice muscles too, wow, I might as well be in boy heaven! Best punishment ever, am I right, Kou-chan?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal"You watched as Makoto's face turned red at your comments while Gou sweatdropped at you, her bangs falling over her face. You immediately dropped the act and gave the two of them a wicked grin, your eyes sparkling mischievously./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Look, Kou, I don't do nice." You said, walking over the fence around the pool, putting your hand on it and putting your boot in one of the indents, hoisting yourself up. "Being bad just seems easier, ya know?" You finished, swinging your boot up and gripping the metal as you positioned yourself to sit on the edge of the fence, looking at Haruka swim./p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'd be careful, [Last Name], it m-might be dangerous!" Makoto yelled to you, his face still flushed from earlier. Seriously, you'd think the guy had Gynophobia (Fear of Women) by how much he stuttered and gulped around you./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Since when have I care about danger?" You replied back, an outline of a smile forming on your face as you felt the breeze in your hair, staring down at the swimmer. You turned your head back towards Gou and Makoto only a few minutes later, to see they had left./p  
p class="MsoNormal"You steadied yourself before grabbing your smart phone from your boot, checking the time. Okay, 5 minutes somehow turned into a half an hour. You slowly made your way off the fence, your boots hitting the ground with a thud before glancing at Haru who was emstill /emswimming./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yo Dolphin, you know we have practice later, right?" You questioned the male who stopped swimming to look at you, surprise sparking in his eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah," He started swimming over to the edge where you were. "But I'm swimming now because I'm free." He began to get out, standing in front of you, water dripping from his emshot /s/embody. "Why the name Dolphin, anyways?" He questioned you, earning a small smirk of your own./p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well, you just swim like one. No insult though, you're pretty fast." You complimented awkwardly. If anyone wasn't going to try and be nice, or take your compliment as a sign of friendship, it was him. "Nice to see someone who doesn't have a big head about swimming." You said, running a hand through your [hair color] hair./p  
p class="MsoNormal"He stared at you for a moment, before brushing past you, droplets of water getting on your face and hair. "The water likes you."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""So you're a water whisperer?" You asked, confused. But that would explain why he swims so much, and that emI'm free /emcrap. "That would not surprise me, Dolphin. You just seem like that kind of guy, to be honest."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""No, when I pulled you into the water, the water liked you. You couldn't have been the one who vandalized the pool, or the water would hate you." He flipped his black hair at you, his blue orbs cloudy. "You're not bad. You just think you are."/p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'm not bad?! Is that it? Ask anyone in school, I'm as bad as it gets." You huffed back, the hate meter going up for this Haruka guy. "Nagisa compared me to you, and I don't know what he thought we had in common. You and I will always be complete opposites." You fired at him, your boots hitting the ground as you walked away. "You know, Haruka, I'll thank you for getting them off me when I said I stuck by my friends, cause I'm as loyal as anyone. You wouldn't know the meaning of loyalty if it hit you in the face, considering all you care about is yourself. You might be free and all, but maybe not everyone is."/p  
p class="MsoNormal"strongHaruka P.O.V./strong/p  
p class="MsoNormal"I stared after her, my hands limp at my sides. She just left after saying that? But she called Nagisa by his actual name… She seemed nice, under all that makeup, but the next minute she was as rough as sandpaper./p  
p class="MsoNormal"She doesn't know me, and I'm sure I don't know the real [Name]. She's not as bad as she makes out to be, if she was she'd be different./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But she's not./p  
p class="MsoNormal"But that doesn't mean she has the right to say I don't care about my friends, but she's right about not everyone being free. Something tells me she's one of them./p 


	8. Chapter 7

The third week of this damned punishment and you were already starting to snap. Every five minutes someone was either threatening you, trying to be friends with you or stuttering at you. All of which you weren't supposed to be rude back, or the threatening would reoccur. Maybe you had died falling off the fence and this was your hell? Maybe you'd next be thrown into a pretty pink dress and be forced to wear ballet flats.

"You're here, finally, [Name]-chan!" Nagisa greeted you as you walked into the fenced area, the scent of smoke lingering around you faintly. You had sprayed some perfume on since smoke isn't a pleasant smell.

"Not the [Name]-chan crap again, Nagisa." You muttered, walking past him to set down your bag. "What are we doing today?" You asked boredly as Gou grinned widely, her ponytail bobbing up and down.

"We're going to a joint practice with the Samezuka Team, I'm sure you've heard of them, and my brother is the captain!" She said, grabbing her bag. "If you need a change of clothes you could borrow some of mine." She said, glancing at your attire.

You gaped at her, your [eye color] eyes wide.

"You can't possibly be serious." You said, absentmindedly waving your hand. "W-Why would we even be going there again?" You squeaked out, earning looks- Most confused, from the swimmers. "I mean, why do we need them in the first place..? If it's off school property than I don't even think I'm required to go!" You finished, but as you went to grab your bag Haru stood in front of you, blocking you from going any farther.

Sometimes you just really hated him. Even if he was the one who left you alone most of the time.

"You have to go, considering you're a part of the club." His eyes flashed dangerously, almost rendering you intimidated. "I can always tell the principal." Okay, he had scared you, and you figured it was just the swim team. As if you'd see him there, he was never much of a swimmer, really.

"Yeah." You nodded, stepping back from the male to look at Gou, still a little nervous about Samezuka. "I can go, I guess, but I won't be changing my clothes." You finished, regaining your confidence as you looked at Gou, her face stern.

"Well I don't see how you could manage wearing 10 pounds (4.5-ish kg) on your feet, but whatever floats your boat." She looked over at Haru, "Not like I could get you to change. But I was wondering if you wanted a Iwatobi Team jacket, since your part of our team, whether I like it or not." You could tell this was her attempt at being nice to you, but you shook your head.

"Nah, I'm good. Sooner or later the principal will be like, "Oh that [Last Name] girl is very trustworthy I was stupid to put her in that club, I should make sure to tell her this." And bye bye me!" You said emphasizing at the end. "But I will go and change really quickly, not into some borrowed clothes, of course, but I have a change of clothes. I'll be in the locker room." Without saying anything else, you quickly dodged Haru and grabbed your backpack, rushing into the empty locker room.

You started to strip off your clothes but gave an exasperated sigh at what had happened. Nitori wouldn't really be there, would he? He was never that into swimming as a kid… he chances of him still being at Samezuka seemed **very** slim, and you never got out enough to really meet anyone, so you should be fine. Either way, you knew their policy at the swimming pool. No boots allowed.

You pulled on a [favorite color] tanktop, sliding on your black jacket, pulling your hair from the cap. You pulled out a pair of blue skinny jeans, undoing your boots to step into them. You pulled the boots back on, adjusting your posture before shoving the items back in your bag, walking out to join the others.

"Here's the place." Makoto said to all of you, and you immediately stopped texting your annoying brother who was back home. You had made sure you wouldn't see him, getting home late and waking up early.

"Isn't it cool, [Name]-chan? They even have an indoor pool!" Nagisa said excitedly, and you gulped, recognizing it. You had spent a good 3 years here. "Let's go!" He shouted, running inside.

As you stepped inside the glassed in area, you could see that Gou was already drooling over the guys. You had to admit, they were attractive. Your eyes wandered over to a tall redhead who was walking towards the glass area, his grin revealing sharp teeth.

He was hot, by all means, and somehow he looked like someone…

"Rin!" You watched as Gou ran over to the male, hugging him. Ah, siblings, so this was the guy Haru always swam best against? Nice. "Hey big brother, we have a new member, well kinda…" She said, motioning towards you. Rin's eyes traveled to you, and you gave him a small wave, crossing your arms over your chest.

"I'm Rin Matsuoka, the captain of Samezuka's team." He introduced, shaking your hand and staring down at you, his eyes a little bit confused. "Glad you could make it, I'm glad to see Gou isn't alone in the Swim Club…"

"[Name] [Last Name]." You introduced, your eyes scanning him. "She's a nice girl, although I can't seem to get much of that side." He laughed a little at your statement, before looking at the rest of the Samezuka Team.

"I'll catch you later, [Last Name]-san." He said, looking at the swimmers. "Nice to meet you, although it's kinda surprising to see a girl had joined the team. Do you swim for them?" He asked, causing you to awkwardly laugh.

"Nah, more of a helper."

"Matsuoka-senpai, I'm sorry I'm late!" You turned around along with Rin to see what that was, and suddenly you felt someone grope you, and next thing you know you were on the ground. "Ahh I'm sorry!"

 **3** **rd** **P.O.V.**

Everyone waited for the [hair color] haired girl to yell at the male, Makoto and Rei especially preparing for it. But what surprised them all was her reaction.

"Nitori-kun?" She questioned, her [eye color] eyes softening as she stared up at the familiar male, her face emotionless, her eyes the only thing showing her emotion.

 **Your P.O.V.**

"I'm sorry, [Name]! I didn't mean to-" You clamped a hand over the male's mouth and took a glance at the others, quickly pulling Nitori up as you sat up, sending them a look.

"Mind if I borrow him?" You questioned through gritted teeth, Nitori looking confused as you pulled him out of the glass room, into the empty hallway, pulling him into a nearby classroom. "Nitori-kun," You began, "You look so grown up."

"[Name], you're…. You look so different from the last time I saw you." Nitori said, his blue eyes deep with worry. "You're even taller than me now."

"I've just grown up, I guess." You shrugged, walking over to a nearby desk, sitting down with your hands over your legs. "I never expected to see you on the swim team. You must be pretty good to be on the Samezuka one." You filled in the silence, knowing Nitori must be a little nervous about your different look.

"I didn't know you had joined the swim team." He said after a moment before smiling widely, "This means you'll get to see me swim at the tournament! Although I wish you were still at Samezuka, but as long as I can see my best friend, it's fine!"

You stared at Nitori for a second before standing up, your hair covering your face a little bit as you sent him a small smile.

"You should get back to practice." You narrowed your eyes, "Meet up with me after, okay?" You said, trying not to be rude to your old friend, even if you had changed. Sometimes people change, but sometimes the friendship won't.

"A-Alright!'" He started to leave the classroom before sending you an awkward smile, "Sorry about g-groping you, [Name]." You blinked as he left hurriedly, quickly remembering what had happened. You didn't bother leaving the classroom though, you recognized it in fact. You had sneaked in here once with Nitori to see the class you were intended to be in.

You brushed your hand on the desk and let out a loud sigh, knowing you had to explain a lot to Nitori. Somehow you felt a little upset, but at the same time you felt glad he was here- Even if his entrance was a little bit rocky.

"[Name]?" You jumped at the noise and whipped your head around to see Gou in the entrance, and shot her a glare at the use of your name. "You left unexpectedly with that swimmer," Her eyes widened, "You didn't hit him or anything , did you?"

"No!" You defended yourself, of course you wouldn't ever hit Nitori. Possibly Nagisa or Haru, but never Nitori. "I just wanted to scare him a little.." You lied to her, your eyes looking at the floor. "Whatever, you saw the sign, right? I can't go in the pool area because of my boots, they'll scuff the tile."

"You know, I don't get it." She said to you, her red eyes narrowed. "You act all tough, but clearly you didn't intend to hurt or scare that guy. You didn't even look upset with him, more upset at us." She paused, "Do you have a crush on him?" That seemed to get her interested.

You laughed a little at that, the thought of you and Nitori dating. You could remember what had happened once, and it was clear in your mind, as if it happened yesterday.

 ** _-7_** ** _th_** ** _grade dance-_**

 _"Nitori-kun, you look dorky in that shirt. Seriously, plaid?" You said to the male, your [eye color] eyes full of amusement. "I can't believe you thought I liked you like that! I asked you to the dance, and this was your way of letting me down? Wearing plaid?" You watched the boy's cheeks light up and you quickly hugged him._

 _"I'm flattered, Nitori, but I'm into bad boys." You said, backing up and doing a mean face._

 _"Stop teasing me, [Name]!" He whined, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to hide his blush. "You look dorky enough with that look on your face anyways."_

 _You sniffled a little, being called dorky was something you couldn't stand. Being at an awkward age, especially with raging hormones your skin wasn't too thick, and you tended to take things to heart. Even from a 6_ _th_ _grader like Nitori, despite him being taller than you._

 _"I'm sorry!" He said as he watched you begin to cry, quickly grabbing some tissues. "I didn't mean it, I was just kidding, [N-Name]!" He hugged you and you smiled, wiping your eyes._

 _"You didn't mean to, Nitori."_

 _You smiled again, your braces showing before looking at the full dancefloor._

 _"Can we go dance now?"_

 ** _-End of Flashback-_**

"God, no." You laughed again, causing the redhead to sigh. "He looked too nice, anyways, don't wanna hurt a kid like that." You always joked about being older than him, but you intended to keep your dorky past self away from these Iwatobi guys.

"Oh, okay." She said, her mood dropping a little at your statement. "But you should at least bring some moral support instead of walking around some random classroom. Just because you're technically not a part of our team, doesn't mean you don't go to Iwatobi. At least watch through the glass."

"Whatever," You started to walk by her, but she grabbed your wrist, causing you to stop.

"You should really be nicer to our swimmers. Just because they're not perfect doesn't mean they're not good. Negativity never beats Positivity." You turned to face her, your face expressionless. "I mean, Nagisa might be a little annoying from time to time, but saying his swimming is bad will only upset him. Lately he's been pushing himself, which is good, but you should really give him a couple compliments."

You never thought about that, to be honest, and you heart soften a little. You gave her a light nod before shaking her hand loose from your wrist, walking past her as you shoved your hands in the pockets of your jeans.

You leaned to rest your elbow on the small windowsill, watching Haruka step up on the diving block. You could see several sets of eyes glance at you and your appearance, but you might as well watch. You didn't wanna hurt anyone's feelings, at least not today.

You watched as Rin blew the whistle, and Haru jumped into the water, and you could almost see him as a dolphin. Your [eye color] eyes were almost mesmerized as he swam, and as he got out of the water, the two of you locked eyes.

You looked away with a sigh, knowing these Iwatobi boys wouldn't give up on trying to be your friend. Even if Haruka wasn't one of them.


	9. Chapter 8

"[Last Name]-san, are you coming with us on the train?"

You turned around quickly to see Rei looking at you, a confused expression lingering, followed by narrowed eyes. "Why are you outside the locker room? I don't even think girls are allowed back here…" You could tell by his expression he thought you were doing something perverse.

"None of your business, and before you say anything I'm not some pervert trying to catch a look at naked men, that's just gross." You said, your eyes lazily drifting to the light blue bag that you knew was Nitori's. "I like the food on this side of town anyways, so I'm going to eat and then catch a later train."

He blinked at you in surprise before nodding and turning around, walking back to where he was supposed to be meeting up with the rest of the swim club.

"Hey, [Name]," You turned to see Nitori scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I have a problem, you see, my friends were planning to go out to eat with me, and if it doesn't bother you, can they come along?"

You nodded at him, your face neutral as a male with orange hair walked through, and looked up at you, his face breaking out into a wide grin.

"I'm Momo!" He paused, "Wow, this is gonna sound really weird, but you're extremely gorgeous! How d'you know my buddy Nitori?" He asked, slinging an arm around Nitori who sighed.

"Um.." You blinked at the shorter male, "We're friends. You know, I'm actually a lesbian, so…" You said to the male whose eyes widened as he backed up a little.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't know!" He apologized as Nitori eyes widened extremely, his jaw dropping as you sent him a wicked grin.

"You're Nitori's friend?" You blink to see Rin walk from behind Nitori who was still looking pretty surprised. "You both are too gullible, she's clearly messing with you anyways." He said to the two males while you snickered a little to yourself.

He stared at you for a moment, and you could practically imagine what was going through his head. _"How the hell does Nitori know a chick like this?"_ Or maybe, _"She's probably going to corrupt the guy!"_

"Yep, the one and only." You said, watching as Nitori's face turned to relief as Rin said that to him. Momo on the other hand was different; his face had turned red as he realized this. "Nitori swam pretty well today, that's for sure." You said to the captain, knowing that Nitori was a way better swimmer than the last time you had seen him.

"He certainly works hard." Rin said, and soon another tall- Whoa, giant is kind of an understatement. He seemed taller than Makoto, by all means. If anyone could scare you it'd be him.

"Sousuke." He said, holding out his hand for you to shake. You shook it, surprised by his gentle handshake. You really needed to stop judging people by the way they look. "Nice to meet you."

You nodded in return, and Nitori quickly made his way to stand in front of all the others.

"Do you guys want to go to that new ramen place?" You shrugged while everyone else nodded, so you were going to eat Ramen with the less-annoying (Okay Momo seemed kinda annoying but he was at least Nitori's friend. You had to modify your attitude just a little for him.) Samezuka swim team. "Okay! We can probably walk, since I don't think it's too far, unless [Name] would rather take a train!"

You shook your head with a sigh, remembering how unathletic you used to be. "I think I can walk, Nitori-kun. Let's just get going, because I'm starved." You saw Rin shoot you another look, but he only walked ahead, Sousuke following in suite.

You stood between Momo and Nitori who both would ask you questions, but you only wanted a longer chance to talk to Nitori in private. The guy at the counter for checking out eyed you warily, but it wasn't unusual. One time, you went into a convenience store to buy a soda and the guy told you to get out because he "Didn't wanna lose any more money."

"So, [Name]-" That wasn't Nitori.

"Look," You turned to Momo, your nails clenching your jacket tightly. "I'd appreciate if you called me [Last Name], because I don't know you very well." You added a small sigh for extra effort, to seem like a pleading one, but you were truthfully just trying to vent your anger.

Nitori looked at you worriedly again, and you walked with them, an awkward tension engulfing the three of you. Rin and Sousuke didn't really try to invade your conversation, or make any move to talk to you. But let's just say you couldn't count the number of times he looked at you suspiciously.

"[Last Name]-san, how do you know Nitori?" Rin asked after a couple minutes of awkward silence. But although he asked you, Momo butt in.

"Nitori said they went to Samezuka's middle school together, and they became buddies when he was in 6th grade and she was in 7th, apparently they were best friends. Although the pictures I saw of [Last Name]-chan looked very different."

Your eyes widened as you stared at Momo, who seemed oblivious to your upset state. Rin looked at you confused for a moment, and you brought yourself to look him in the eye. You raised an eyebrow as you stared back at him, but he only gave a slight scoff before turning around to speak with Sousuke who seemed uninterested in the whole thing in general.

"We're here." You all stopped at Sousuke's statement, Sousuke and Rin turning around. "There shouldn't be much of a wait, but we'll go and see." You looked at Nitori for a moment as the two older guys walked into the ramen place.

"Momo, do you think that Nitori and I could talk privately?" You asked the male, giving him a small smile, knowing very well he was the type to accept kindness or intimidation. He nodded quickly, running in after the two upperclassmen.

You quickly grabbed Nitori's hand and pulled him behind the Ramen place, in an alley-like area. He was really confused, you could tell by the look on his face.

You quickly grabbed Nitori's hand and pulled him behind the Ramen place, in an alley-like area. He was really confused, you could tell by the look on his face.

"[Name]? You've been acting really weird…" He stared up at you, worry and confusion on his face. "What happened? You never were even into swimming, and Matstuoka-senpai said you were a 'helper'."

You gave a long sigh, knowing that Nitori had every right to know what had happened.

"I got in trouble at school, and my punishment is to be an aid to the Iwatobi Swim Club. I got caught vandalizing their pool, and so here I am." You began to pace awkwardly, running your hands through your hair. "I fell in with some cool guys in highschool, earned the nickname Trouble, and did some things, picked up smoking." You stopped and turned back to him, "I've just changed, Nitori-kun. Grown up, I guess."

He looked sad, upset for a moment, but let out a loud sigh.

"But, I don't understand. Why did you fall in with the wrong crowd?"

"Nitori, they aren't the 'wrong crowd' they're my friends. I met them after my family adopted my brother," You clenched your fists, "All they ever did was compare me to him- And he's only about 4 years younger than me, yet he's the new family favorite!" You exhaled loudly and sent a sad smile to Nitori. "They get it though, they really do."

Nitori looked sad, but you walked over to him to ruffle his grey hair, your eyes soft.

"But, we're still friends, right?"

"Of course!" He said eagerly, his blue orbs shining. "I guess it's just kinda hard to see my friend so different, but you know what they say, 'Sometimes friends change, but that doesn't mean the friendship will.' Or something like that… I'm sorry you don't want to be on the Iwatobi team, though. They're good guys, all of them are, so don't be too hard on them."

Hearing it from Nitori was different than hearing it from Gou, but at the same time you didn't think they deserved it. They were total strangers to you, and you could practically say one word for each one of them. You don't think so?

 **Gou/Kou:** Your average fangirl

 **Nagisa** : Dumb and annoying blonde

 **Rei:** Booksmart but no common sense

 **Makoto:** Gynophobic

 **Haruka:** Dolphin x Water x Free!

But instead you merely nodded at your friend, in attempt to be kind. You hadn't had much experience lately, and you were rusty. You could adjust- But only for your childhood friend. Not like you'd even dare to change for those Iwatobi boys.

"Let's go eat some Ramen, Nitori-kun." You said, earning an enthusiastic nod.

 **3** **rd** **P.O.V.**

"Nagisa, I still feel like this is a terrible idea!" Makoto yelled at the short blonde as they watched [Name] and Nitori walk into the ramen place, hiding in the bushes. "She already hates us, if she finds out we're spying on her that'll only go downhill faster!"

"Oh my gosh, was my brother spying on them?" Gou whispered yelled as she watched Rin walk inside quickly after them, causing all the Iwatobi swimmer's eyes to widen.

"I wonder what on earth they were talking about…" Rei questioned out loud. "I'm sure Rin must've heard them, but did anyone else notice [Name] looking a lot nicer than usual? Although with her dark outfit it's a little harder to notice."

"[Name]-chan, be nice?" Nagisa questioned his eyes wide. "Does that mean Ai-chan and [Name]-chan are dating? That would be so awesome! He needs a girlfriend to loosen up a little, and same goes for her!" Nagisa said excitedly, causing Gou to sigh.

"I don't think so. I asked her earlier and she laughed about it, and I don't really see her laugh much. It didn't seem too sarcastic, but I have a feeling they aren't dating." She said, peering through the window where the Samezuka Team was seated, along with the [hair colored] haired girl. "But I do have a feeling they're friends, despite the total personality difference."

"It does seem a little unlikely that the two are dating, and friends are even more believable anyways. But she does seem a little nicer to him, anyways." Makoto gulped as [Name] glanced out the window. "I just really hope she doesn't find us. She really dislikes me- I mean us." He said, stuttering quickly as he crouched behind the bushes.

"I don't see what the whole fuss is about," Haru mumbled, leaning against the bush, accepting the confused looks from the passerby. "She doesn't want to be friends with us, and I just want to go home."

"Haru, you just want to go take a dumb bath!" Gou said to the male, puffing out her cheeks. "This is drama, and I wanna see what happens! Wouldn't it be such an awesome plot twist to see that [Name]'s got a crush on Nitori-"

 ** _"Cut! Gou, I swear to god, what did I tell you about breaking the fourth wall?" Lauren questioned, glaring at the redhead as she walked on set. "We're going to have re-shoot that last one, Haru, you have to make sure our reader can't see you from behind those bushes. I can't control whatever the hell she does."_**

 ** _TAKE 2:_**

"Haru, you just want to go and take your stupid bath!" Gou whisper-yelled at Haruka, who was awkwardly crouched next to Rei. "This is a girl you're talking about. We practically have drama following us, and she's basically catnip to it!"

 ** _"Cut!" Lauren sighed and walked onto the set, glaring at her actors. "Gou, just please read my script. No more improvisation from you. And Haru, just don't crouch like that. You look like a frog." She muttered, shaking your head as the male eyed her annoyed._**

 ** _Take 3:_**

"Haru, you just want to go and take a dumb bath! Even swimmers need to take a break for once!" Gou said to the male, "This is [Name] we're talking about. Everything we know about her is a mystery, sure, we know she's trouble, we know she's bad," She stopped realizing Haru's dis-interest. "Fine, Haru, you go and explain to the boys since you clearly get it."

Haruka paused, knowing very well he knew more than the others. But he didn't say anything and he wore a neutral expression, leaning back into the bush.

"Haru, you can't go to sleep… Nevermind.." Makoto sighed at his friend who seemed to either be asleep or he had fainted. "But seriously, I don't see why we're even spying on her. Haru has a point."

"This whole thing isn't even beautiful in the slightest." Rei concluded, adjusting his glasses. "But I'm interested in her relationship with Nitori. When I saw her by the locker rooms she said she was meeting with a friend, and considering she's been closer to him than any of the Samezuka boys, he seems like the one."

"Rei-chan has a good point, maybe Ai-chan could help us be friends with her!" Nagisa said excitedly, "I bet she only compliments her friends in swimming, that's why she hasn't said anything to me- us! I mean us!" Nagisa corrected quickly, his face turning red as he got looks from the other swimmers

"I'm sure we can all agree that [Name] is a mystery, and by all means I intend to find out." Gou finished, crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe I can even get my brother to help us out? He did probably hear the conversation between Nitori and [Name] anyways…"

"Oh! I've got an idea!" Nagisa piped up, slamming his fist against his other hand. "Why don't we have a bet on who can find the most about her? That way it can be like a game!" He said, although the others didn't look too excited- Or at least not nearly as excited as the blonde.

"That's kinda mean, to bet on someone's secrets." Gou said, her eyebrows furrowed at the male.

"How about we just not try and find out her secrets?" Makoto said, a little bit of distress in his tone. "Really, guys, we should just stay out of her business. Sure, she might be rude and a little disrespectful, and scary, but other than that she's a fine coach and does well in helping us swimmers."

"Makoto, stop being such a party pooper!"

"Nagisa, we aren't even at a party!"


	10. Chapter 9

"So, [Name], do you actually swim?" Momo asked you his yellow eyes flickering towards your figure and you turned back to him away from the window. "If so, we should race sometime!" He said, the grin never leaving his face.

"Eh, kinda. I'm just your average swimmer, but I can swim both backstroke and freestyle." You said, trying not to sound bored. But at least you weren't alone on your late trek, usually you'd just hang out with Em and her crew- But they still haven't shown up. You were honestly pretty sure she'd dropped out of school.

You glanced out the window again, and you felt uncomfortable. Like someone was watching you. You shrugged it off, it was probably Momo. You felt a little flattered though, considering you'd never had a guy tell you that you were gorgeous before.

Just scary and intimidating, but that really didn't bother you all that much.

"Here's your ramen," The waiter said, setting the bowls in front of you all. He swallowed as you looked up, hurrying off quickly. "Have a nice meal!" He said as he left, clear nervousness in his tone.

You eat your soup, listening to the conversation of Nitori and Momo. It seemed to be about the upcoming tournament. Sousuke looked at you, his turquoise eyes sparkling. You had to admit, these Samezuka boys were hot. Not that you were saying the Iwatobi ones weren't, but these guys weren't annoying.

"So, [Last Name], is Iwatobi planning on competing in the District Tournament?" He asked, raising the attention from both Momo and Nitori. To your surprise, Rin didn't even bother looking up, simply stirring around his ramen.

 _Were they? You couldn't remember. No, wait, yeah they were._ "Yeah, I think so." You said, resting biting your lip as you thought. "They've been practicing." You said, knowing you had no other info on the males.

"My cigarettes are gone?!" You grumbled, looking into your bag, sitting on the bench at the train station. "Well, shit." You stood up, throwing it back over your shoulder, heaving an annoyed sigh before taking a tissue from your pocket.

You wiped the dark makeup from your lips, seeing as your lips felt dry enough. You licked them as you heard footsteps behind you. You turned to see the whoever would be using the train at this time- Considering it was only about 7:30 it was probably someone getting off work.

"Since when did you guys stay in town?" You asked, loudly as the train flew by, your hair blowing back. They all looked surprised at your sudden appearance, but Nagisa of all flashed you a large grin before running over to you.

"We went out to eat, although we wished you hadn't left!" He said, putting his hands on your shoulders, and you quickly shoved them away.

"Get offa me, Nagisa!" You shouted, glaring at the male. You adjusted your jacket before glaring at the male, "Don't touch me. Anyways, my ride is here, and I'd appreciate it, since we aren't at practice, you left me alone." You hissed at the male, before shooting daggers at the rest of them, stepping onto the train, walking off into the secluded car.

You sat on the lonely seat, before your phone starting to ring, the tune of 'I Knew You were Trouble' and you flushed lightly, knowing it was kinda an embarrassing song. But it helped you know who was calling; Your annoying, asshole, prestigious little brother. _Hibiki._

"What?" You asked, leaning back into your seat as the train started to move.

 _"You've been ignoring me, that's what! I just want to talk to you, so stop acting all badass. It gets annoying sometimes."_ He snapped back into the receiver, and you rolled your eyes at his comment, even though you knew he couldn't see you.

"Stop trying to hang out with me, then. I'm already eighteen, I don't wanna hang out with some bratty fourteen year old." You hissed back into the phone, clenching it in your hands.

 _"Where do you even go? It's not like you have any friends to talk to or anything. You're lucky I love you."_ You sighed into the received as he softened his tone a little bit. Sure he was an ass, but you had to love him. _"I'm sorry, okay? I feel bad. But I need to talk to you tonight, I'll stay up late, but [Name] it's important."_

"Fine." You said, biting your lip before huffing in annoyance. "You're an asshole of a brother, but I guess I love you too. I'll be home around 8:45, and if Mom asks me where I was, tell her I was with Nitori." You waited for his response, but after a minute he responded.

 _"I'm not gonna lie to Mom. Seriously, where were you?"_ He asked, and you clenched your fists by your sides.

"Hibiki, I was with Nitori, okay? He's apparently on the Samezuka swim team, and the team I'm on went to a joint practice- I don't think I should tell you anything." You finished, hearing a loud sigh from his end of the line.

 _"I can't help the fact guys are hot. Just tell me, has Nitori gotten attractive?"_ He asked, earning a small laugh from you. Yep, your brother was gay. The only thing that your parents didn't exactly encourage, but they loved him nonetheless. You had to admit it was funny that you and your brother both had the same taste in guys.

"I guess he has. He's got nice abs anyways."

 **3** **rd** **P.O.V.**

"Who could she be talking to?" Rei asked, glancing at the girl who seemed bipolar, one minute she was snapping at the unknown person, the next she was saying 'I love you' and laughing.

"Boyfriend?" Haruka asked, clearly uninterested in [Name]'s personal life. "I don't see why you guys would care." He said, a little annoyed at how Rei, Nagisa and Gou kept staring at her.

"It can't be! She was talking about abs with whoever was on the phone." Gou whisper yelled, peeking over to the empty train car [Name] sat in.

"Maybe she's talking to her Mom?" Nagisa asked, clearly out of ideas. Makoto sighed, shaking his head before looking over at the female who seemed to laugh.

Maybe it was just him, but it sounded genuine.

"There she is!" [Name] stepped off the train car to be picked up by a tall black haired male, who pulled her into a tight hug, leaving the two males watching curiously.

"Put me down before I stab you!" She shouted at the male who laughed, setting the dizzy girl down, rubbing her head. She glanced behind her at the two swimmers, the male's eyes widening at them.

"I'm Hibiki," He introduced, standing taller than both of the males. It was clear he was part American, seeing as he was at a good 6'3". "I am [Name]'s brother, single and 14. My sign is a Capricorn and I like ice cream-"

 **Your P.O.V.**

"We're going home." You grabbed his hand, jerking him away from the two swimmers who stared after you two in awe. "Don't talk to them. Go date some British guy, stay away from people I don't like." You snapped to the male as you exited the train area, walking home alongside the pouty male.

"You're just jealous because you don't have a boyfriend and that I have a contact list full of European swimsuit models." He slung an arm around the girl who annoyedly pushed him away.

"I don't give a crap. What was so important that you needed to talk about? I've got class tomorrow morning and I want to go to bed." You said, yawning softly as the moon shone dully in the sky. You leaned against the male, not caring because you were sleepy.

"Now you let me hug my sister," He said, pulling you into a hug as you lazily grumbled something about touching you. He lifted you up into a bridle carry, and you flicked his chest before sighing. "Patience, sis." He said as you started to snore softly. "I don't want to tell you, but you'll find out soon enough…"

You ran down the hall, trying to put your dark lipstick on when you collided with a wall, the lipstick smearing across your cheek and falling with a clatter to the floor. You groaned with a sigh, hearing another groan following.

You opened your eyes and were met with the face of none other than Makoto Tachibana, who blinked upon seeing you, gulping as if on instinct.

"[Name]! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I was late for class- Your lipstick…" He said, and you quickly began to wipe the smeared color from your face, his green eyes darting to the broken stick, picking up and handing it to you. You let your hair fall over the side of your face covered in lipstick before jerking the lipstick tube from his hands.

"Don't call me that, tall guy." You said, wincing as the school bell rang, leaving you and Makoto on the ground. "Ugh, it's everywhere." You said annoyed before looking back up at the male, giving a light laugh as you noticed the lipstick he had gotten on his own face.

"W-What?" He asked nervously as you laughed, trying to wipe off the lipstick with your shirt sleeve, the maroon staining your shirt.

"You've got lipstick on your cheek too." You sighed, looking at the broken tube. "Too bad it was **mine.** You owe me a new lipstick," You glanced at your shirt sleeve, "And possibly a new shirt."

"I can totally do that, I'm super sorry, ah, now I'm late for class- And you are too!" He rambled, nervously trying to wipe off his cheek at the same time. You stood up, adjusting your skirt and jacket before pulling your phone out of your boot, sending him a look before grabbing his hand and jerking him up alongside you.

He stumbled for a moment before standing next to you, looking nervous as you looked in your phone's camera, giving a light smile of amusement at how dumb the two of you looked.

"Let's go." You said to the male, walking towards the exit, still trying to get the remains of lipstick from your face.

"Why?" He asked, glancing back at what you presumed was his classroom.

"You're going to buy me a new stick of lipstick," You said, raising an eyebrow at the taller male. "You said you would, and I refuse to go into school looking like a clown that got caught in a bad accident." You watched the male's lip twitch into a small smile before he shook his head.

"I can't ditch! I'll get in trouble, I'll…" You rolled your eyes at him, before sighing.

"Fine, we'll just go in there then, Makoto. I mean, how bad it would be for us to go back in there with messed up lipstick on our faces…" You watched his expression change, and suddenly he nodded quickly, his face turning red- the tips of his ears doing the same.

"You make me wonder how such a tall, strong and athletic guy can be so awkward around girls." You mused out loud as the two of you walked out of the school, him trying to wipe the lipstick on his face before shaking his head. "Your basically the definition of gentle giant… Oh well," You said, shaking your head. "You better have some yen on you, my lipstick isn't cheap."


	11. Chapter 10

"Before we go in, come with me to the bathroom." You said to the male who'd given up on getting the lipstick stain of his face, a similar one on yours as you stepped into the mall. He stared at you for a second his eyes wide.

"I can't go in the girl's room! I'm a male, and I just can't- Why would I even have to go in there?" He asked earning an eye roll from you.

"I think I have makeup remover in my bag, but I don't have any paper towels. There's a single bathroom for handicapped, and I'm not going to let you use my makeup remover." You snapped to the male, "But if you don't want to get that off your face, I'll go in by myself. I wouldn't trust you with a grain of rice, so I surely wouldn't trust you with my makeup remover." People glanced over at you and Makoto and you took a deep breath before grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the restrooms, his flustered and nervous face only growing worse.

You pushed him into the bathroom, shutting the door behind the two of you as you took the backpack off your back, digging through the front pockets as he awkwardly stood in front of you.

"Grab some paper towels," You instructed, pulling out the bottle of remover, looking up to see the male getting paper towels. He shuffled over quickly and handed one to you, and you took it quickly, walking over to the mirror, your [eye color] eyes narrowed as you dripped some of the liquid onto the towel. You rubbed it for a moment, sighing a the color came off your face, and you wiped off the smudged lips, giving a light laugh as you remembered Makoto.

"Come on so I can get it off." You instructed, pursing your pink lips, and the male awkwardly make his way to you. You tossed the other paper towel away quickly, squirting some more remover on a new piece before wiping the stain off of his face. "And you should be fine. Hopefully you aren't allergic to it, although I'm pretty sure it's all natural."

"Thank you, [Name]- [Last Name]!" He corrected immediately, and you sighed tiredly before tossing the paper in the bin, picking up your bag as you tossed.

"Whatever, just don't expect to be able to call me that in front of your dumb friends." You narrowed your eyes at him before pulling off your tie and blazer, causing the male to jump in surprise.

"Wh-What are you doing?!" He asked, his face turning red as he watched you unbutton the two top buttons of your shirt, and you raised an eyebrow.

"You're weird." You said to him, shoving your blazer and tie in your bag before shaking your head. "You don't expect me to go looking for makeup dressed as a dweeb, do you? I can hold your blazer for you if you need me to. You look dumb dressed in a school uniform, seriously, are you trying to get caught ditching?"

"Oh!" He said, scratching the back of his neck as he realized what you meant. "I guess you have a point, do you mind if I-?" He gestured to your bag and you nodded as he slipped off his blazer and tie, folding them neatly. You put them in your bag before zipping it, tossing it over your shoulder.

"So, if anyone asks, your my older friend who is visiting." You opened the door to exit the bathroom, glad nobody else was around. You walked down out to the food court with Makoto trailing behind you like a lost puppy. "Makoto," You said, slowing down a bit for the male to catch up, "Are you scared of women?"

"No-! Of course not!" He jumped, looking slightly flustered. "I don't think I'm really _scared_ of women in general- It's just…"

You stopped, your [eye color] eyes flashing with something as you turned to the male with olive hair.

"No, don't trail off, I want you to tell me why you're scared as fuck." You said bitterly, walking by a group of people around a kiosk, staring blankly ahead. "Look, it's not like you have anyone else to talk to."

You weren't surprised he didn't give an answer, and felt a little upset, despite your cool face. You'd thought maybe you could try and ride out this Iwatobi Swim Club thing if you had a friend, and Makoto being the kind of guy he was, you had to have somebody who didn't _necessarily_ despise you-

"You said to put the past behind you-But I'm still not even clear on how it was my fault, and you just don't like me and… Now we're ditching school," He rambled, not stuttering, but still looking a little nervous.

"You talk too much, I think, but are you sure a girl named Em didn't approach you?"

You watched his expression change for a moment and you stopped, causing him to look at you quizzically. You gestured to the sign, knowing he had met her by his expression. He stopped as you were greeted by a tall blonde woman with cherry red lips, she grinned as she saw you.

"If it isn't my favorite customer, [Last Name]-kun and she brought her boyfriend!" The woman cooed as you sighed, her American accent sinking in. You didn't bother looking at Makoto to see his expression as the woman ushered you over to the lipstick. "Darling, I'm sorry to say that we don't have your color in right now, but feel free to look around!" She cooed before floating over to some other woman.

"Dammit, they don't have my color." You mumbled, looking at the shades of red lipstick as Makoto stood off to the side, his face bright red. "Do you see anything that looks similar to the shade that ended up all over your face?" You asked slyly, watching the male get even more flustered.

"It's partially your fault too!" He sighed, exhausted as you snickered at him. "I think you should try a lighter color, it'll match your skin tone better." You raised an eyebrow at him in curiosity, watching the male flush. "I have a Mom."

"Oh, so the only time we have a normal conversation and you blame it on your Mom." You shake your head, faking an exasperated sigh. "And to think that we could've been civilized people, Makoto, I can't even begin to believe you."

Suddenly he had picked up a lipstick, holding it in front of your mouth, close enough to be applied. You blinked twice before taking it from him, examining the soft baby pink shade. You weren't too keen on it, but you glanced in the mirror that was next to the colorful display of lipstick.

"Wallet." You said to the male, plucking the tube from his hands.

"What?" He asked, confused as you rolled the lipstick down, checking the color.

"Your wallet, I need it to buy this." You tapped him on the nose with the end of the tube, "Observe your surroundings, Makoto."

You watched as the male checked his pockets, starting to get nervous.

"My wallet! My wallet's gone! I had all my yen, oh no…" You held up his wallet, after pulling it out of your boot and sending him a wolfish grin. "How did you…" He trailed off as you pointed to the backpack, which contained his blazer and tie.

You made your way over to the register where a brown haired lady stood, taking the tube and getting you a new one, in a gold box.

"That'll be 1700 yen. (17 dollars)." She said, and you slid Makoto's wallet into your pocket before reaching into your boot to pull out your credit card. You handed it to the lady before she gave you a receipt, checking you out.

"Come on, Makoto." You said to the male, walking by him before tossing the wallet to him. "Luckily the lipstick we bought was cheaper than I thought it'd be. We've got plenty of time to do something else, since going back to school will look like we ditched."

"But we did ditch!" He objected, trailing behind you as you walked to a nearby clothing store, he was eyeing you suspiciously as you walked in.

"Duh, Makoto." You said, holding the door open for the male before looking at the sign to the girl's department. "Okay, my white shirt is practically ruined." You said to him, holding up your arm to show him the dark lipstick stains. "So, you're buying me that too."

"Wait! I just said I'd get the lipstick-"

You shot him a glare before walking past a sock display, him awkwardly following behind, slowing as you reached the woman's lingerie.

"Yeah, you owe me a shirt too." You said to the male, clearly uninterested in his weak objections. "Why would anyone wear this?" You mumbled, touching a lacy bra before showing it to Makoto who turned bright red. "If a girl wore this, wouldn't you think it'd hurt?"

"This isn't the shirt department!" He objected, turning away as you let out a laugh, clearly done messing with the male. "Let's just go to the shirt department." He said, and suddenly he was the one pulling you through the department store as you snickered mischievously

As you looked through the shirts and picked out one you liked, you began to see Makoto loosen up a little, occasionally joking, but still keeping his motherly attitude in check. Yep, he was the Iwatobi boy you had chosen to be your friend.

But only temporarily, until you were released from Pool Helper duty. Then you were going to find Em and her gang, and you would get your place back- And then you'd be bad, just like you had always been.

"Makoto, hurry the hell up, we're going to be late to the Swim Club!" You shouted to the male, jogging as you tossed your finished slushy into a nearby trashcan as the male jogged behind you. "Ugh!" You went over and grabbed his wrist, dragging him along as the two of you ran, him huffing and puffing. "You can swim pretty quickly, but you can't run worth anything." You said as you reached the outside of school.

"Sorry, [Name]." He huffed, leaning over as he put his hands on his knees.

"Nope, [Last Name], tall guy." You instructed, flicking him in the head.

"So you're gonna do that again?" He asked as you walked up the steps, the male trailing behind you like earlier. You shrugged boredly before grabbing your phone out of your boot, playing it boredly as you walked into the pool area.

"Mako-Chan, [Name]-chan, where were you two?" Nagisa asked, jumping in front of you, causing you to send the annoying male a glare.

"I ditched, but you can go ask him where the hell he's been." You said sharply, not lying but not telling him that you had been with Makoto. If he heard that the whole school would know you were nice- And if Em heard that… If she was even around.

"Makoto, where were you?" Gou asked, walking past you and staring at Makoto who looked a little nervous. You shot him a look, warning him not to say anything.

"I had left my backpack at home this morning, and it turns out I had left my blazer- and tie, and I didn't make it school…" You tried to look unamused by his sad explanation, but you were trying not to laugh. Kou and Nagisa looked at him weirdly before Rei walked over to you.

"[Last Name]-san, if you didn't know where Makoto was, than why did the two of you walk in together?" Whoops, caught- Kidding, you'd be fine. Situations like this happened.

"I realized that I needed to go to Swim Club before any of you guys told the principal," You began, dropping your phone into your boot, "And Makoto was in his driveway, mumbling something about missing his tie," You kept a straight face, even though you wanted to laugh. "Then he sees me and asks if I'd seen his tie. Of course I said no, and remind him we have practice. He gets all upset and now we're here." You finished blankly, although you knew you hadn't told the truth.

You watched Rei nod before he walked over to the pool, getting in, soon joined by Nagisa. You watched as Haruka got out of the water, his blue eyes trailing over to Makoto who was walking into the locker room.

Haruka walked over to you, his blue eyes dark and you felt a little intimidated, just as you had been the other day. He leaned over and whispered in your ear,

"Stay here after swim practice."

Holy shit, this was bad. He was gonna kill you. You could just leave. He was a swimmer, you could outrun him, he wasn't that muscly, oh who were you kidding, he was ripped.


End file.
